Did Llambias and Pardew mislead fans over Carroll money? [Poll]

Would you buy a used car from these men?

I remember thinking that Newcastle United’s Managing Director, Derek Llambias, chose his words quite carefully in the wake of Andy Carroll’s £35 million transfer to Liverpool FC, though perhaps not so carefully in the attack on Alan Shearer that came with it. When defending the decision to sell Carroll and pack him off in Ashley’s helicopter he said:

“Yes, he went in our helicopter. But the sooner the deal was done the sooner we could make our own moves in the transfer market. It was already very late.”

Then adding:

“We will spend in the summer. Every penny of the £35m will stay in the club.”

He also told the Sun:

“Mike Ashley has only ever put money into this football club. He has never taken a single penny out. And he won’t take a single penny of this £35m either – all the money will go to the club and we are already working on identifying transfer targets for the summer.”

Even sooner than that, just after the news came through that Carroll was a Liverpool player at the close of the January transfer window, manager, Alan Pardew said:

“The one thing I said to Mike yesterday was, ‘Look, if this boy is going to go, this money has to be reinvested in the team, all of it’, and he has assured me of that.

“For the Newcastle fan, that is the most important message I can give today, that all that money will be used.

“Could it have been used yesterday? Late last night, we made a couple of bids, but we were getting extortionate figures thrown at us. It was ridiculous.

“Were we going to pay an overhiked price for a lesser product than Andy Carroll? No, so unfortunately as I sit here now, I am weaker than I was yesterday because I had Andy Carroll maybe four or five weeks away (from full fitness).

“No, I am not comfortable with it, but it is what it is.”

Later, around the time when Cheick Tiote signed a very long extension, including a significant wage rise, on his contract (until the end of the 2016/17 season), the club made it more apparent that the £35 million would also go into things such as contract extensions like Tiote’s, and more recently even undersoil heating at the club’s training ground in Benton, to further dampen down expectation amongst some fans that all of the money would be spent on transfer fees alone. After Tiote’s extension was announced, the usually reticent Pardew once again brought up the Carroll booty, at times making it sound as if the club had signed a new player saying:

“Everybody involved with Newcastle was a little bit concerned after Andy’s sale, but Mike wanted to answer that and I think he’s done that in the best possible way.

“He’s targeted a player who has done exceptionally well in his first year and hopefully somebody we can build a side round. You’re always going to have players here where the bigger clubs are interested and we’re doing our best to secure the biggest asset we have at the moment.”

Then he added on Carroll:

“It was an exceptional situation in terms of the bid and the player’s experience. We hope we guard against that (with Tiote) with this statement.

“I’m afraid no-one’s never not for sale. That’s the truth of it but the difference between the two is that Cheik wants to stay here. Although Andy said that, he went.

Speaking of the club’s “surplus of cash” Pardew went on:

“You can harp on about the negative of Andy leaving but we’ve got a surplus of cash to buy in the summer and if I was in the dressing room at the moment I’d be thinking we’ve got a good side as we’ve proved since Andy’s left. If we can improve on that with signings like Cheik and some new players we could be a force next year.”

On the fifth of this month, Llambias once again returned to the subject, saying:

“I can assure everyone that not a single penny of the £35 million has left the club and neither will it. It is all going back in.

“We have acted early and we have got the players we wanted, but none of them have been cheap. We have paid good prices for them. They certainly weren’t free transfers, there are fees and wages to consider.

“It is our responsibility to make sure we look after the club responsibly. If we spent all the money on players this summer, what are we going to do in January if we need to bring somebody else in? We are using the money sensibly.”

Anyway, I will try to refrain from expressing too much of what my own feelings are on the subject, because the main point of this piece are to ask what yours are via our latest poll, with the quotes above serving as an ‘aide-mémoire’ on what Llambias and Pardew have said on record regarding the said £35 million.

So what do you think? Let is know your thoughts in our comments section and in our poll.

Right being a Newcastle fan myself can i just say i’m absolutely sick of some of us saying the money is not going to be spent, how on earth will you know that? Yes we’ve barely spent so far but that doesn’t say we’re not going to at all! also to be honest i think if any club could gain Demba Ba,Yohan Cabaye and Sylvain Marveaux lose Kevin Nolan and only lose 1 Million + wages would they do it? Naturally. Also why spend it all in 1 transfer window i’d rather have a balance of say 12.5 Million spent in each of the three windows. All i’m saying fellow Geordies is don’t be discouraged so easily have faith in Pardew, Llambias and Ashley till the end of the transfer window. HOWAY THE LADS

“Also why spend it all in 1 transfer window i’d rather have a balance of say 12.5 Million spent in each of the three windows. All i’m saying fellow Geordies is don’t be discouraged so easily have faith in Pardew, Llambias and Ashley till the end of the transfer window. HOWAY THE LADS”

Why spend it on players to replace players who we sold last season ? We are currently short of 23 goals from last season Michael and with all due respect to Demba Ba he aint the answer on his own. If the owners brought in genuine Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan replacements then maybe we wouldnt be having these discussions.

The problem is that replacing Carroll and Nolan will cost and this Board doesnt want to spend or so it would appear.

I agree… The money stays in the club, so what do we care how its used? Pardew and Llambias said that the money would stay in the club, thats all, it was us the fans who started to think about how we would spend all those millions in transfer fees alone… Either:

The money will be spendt on the team, making us a stronger and in time European team that will make MA a healthy profit if he decides to sell.

or

He uses the money to mostly pay off our debts so he can sell without a loss, but still investing enough to keep us healthy, giving many fans what they want, a chance to get rid of him.

“We are currently short of 23 goals from last season Michael and with all due respect to Demba Ba he aint the answer on his own. If the owners brought in genuine Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan replacements then maybe we wouldnt be having these discussions.”

Nolan scored 2 after Carroll left, so we did just fine without those two. And who would you leave out for Nolan? Tiote?, Cabaye?, Ben Arfa?. Nolan was a good poacher, but it seems that we are going to be playing with more mobility, and how is that bad?

Well I still think everyone felt that we would be spending a lot more money on transfers than we have done, and they have said they have got all the players they wanted. So again it looks like they have spent almost no money at all.

Like you valle i don’t care how much we spend but i can understand peoples disappointment if it was used to say debt as that would contradict the staement from pardew so i can understand peoples gripe there

what i envisage is an investment of 50-60 miliion (including tiotes contract which must amount to about 12-15 million), signings, wages, associated fees

I do see us recouping mor than 15-25 million in sales and wages saved from existing contacts so our overall outlay is less than 35 million but once again i am happy with that, whether others are is up to them

Moaty de yer want some chicken (class name by the way) i think he has enough money outside of our club to cover investment in his other businesses, infact hunters share has been bought by sports direct, i think they have seperate accounts to us so i feel what they are doing there will have little relevence to our club

Bullsh*t! R u deluded! how manys chances do u want to give them. Y u fink.we neva appointef shearer n keegan left cause they stood upto ashley as managers. Pardew is ashley casino bitch. He also sed we wunt sell carroll fair enuf the money was amazin but the guys neva stop talkin sh*t. We sold nolan 4 mil n onli payed for one player so there should be plenty money left. We need two new strikers. Ba may be gud but whats to say he not guns get injured.then what bk to ameobi n loven. Enrique will go so tht is extra cash will tht get spent….. No onli 1mil on.naylor o sum shit player. Any 1 notice ashley spent 7million shares tht prob wer 35mil has gone. …. And b4 any1 complains at me im a very big toon fan n love the toon but just fakin hate upstairs n the way us fans r treated. I wish he would just leave our club n.us fans to have fun like bk.in the day.

It’s all very well saying that the money is going into agents fees, signing on fees and wages…. but I imagine that’s the case with all teams and yet we regularly see teams like Stoke, Villa, Sunderland etc managing to find money for transfer fees.

It’s not that I want us to spend money for the sake of it and it’s good that the 4 players signed so far have been bargains .

However I wonder what would have happened this summer if Andy Carrol hadn’t allegedly forced the club into selling him… would we have had ZERO money available for transfers and would we be looking for £15-20 million in sales just to cover these new contracts we are handing out ? I’d have thought the cost of contracts could be generated without the need to sell players but apparently some of that £35 million needs to be spend on such things.

There’s still lots of time left to sign people but Lambias’ quoute of “we got the players we wanted” sounds like he feels we are just about finished for the summer….

We are very short in central defence, left back and are lacking quality up front so i’ll be disappointed if we don’t see some further signings in those areas before the transfer window closes.

Andy Mac, goals within the team is a concern, i feel there will be more goals from more players next year, i hope anyway, also still nearly 2 months to bring in players, to give perspective to the goals of carroll and nolan, dudley campbell and charlie adam scored as mony if not more last year, other players like clint dempsey scored around the same as nolan, don’t get me wrong i do share your concern but i also live in hope

“It’s all very well saying that the money is going into agents fees, signing on fees and wages…. but I imagine that’s the case with all teams and yet we regularly see teams like Stoke, Villa, Sunderland etc managing to find money for transfer fees.

It’s not that I want us to spend money for the sake of it and it’s good that the 4 players signed so far have been bargains .

However I wonder what would have happened this summer if Andy Carrol hadn’t allegedly forced the club into selling him… would we have had ZERO money available for transfers and would we be looking for £15-20 million in sales just to cover these new contracts we are handing out ? I’d have thought the cost of contracts could be generated without the need to sell players but apparently some of that £35 million needs to be spend on such things.”

“Andy Mac, goals within the team is a concern, i feel there will be more goals from more players next year, i hope anyway, also still nearly 2 months to bring in players, to give perspective to the goals of carroll and nolan, dudley campbell and charlie adam scored as mony if not more last year, other players like clint dempsey scored around the same as nolan”

Unfortunately Irish Al Adam, Dempsey and maybe evn DJ Campbell will cost money. This club isnt keen on spending money is it ?

I have never liked the present owner/directors of what I consider my football club, and I will never support the team while they are in control, but I cannot ignore them, and I always look for any sign that the owner is either changing his stance on the way he does things or more preferably, that he sells the club to owners who actually care about Newcastle United.

I must say that my worst fears about the owner and directors are continually reinforced by their actions. It’s easy to tell when they are lying, they say something. The Andy Carroll fiasco was one of many poor decisions made by this owner, this will be followed by other quality players leaving and cheap crocks and imports being bought to try to hang in the Premier League until a buyer comes along.

My biggest worry about all of this is that the expectancy surrounding the club has almost drained away. A few years ago we were in the elite of world clubs, regulary in mid table of the worlds top twenty richest clubs, now I read fans happy with surviving. ManU used to consider us as a threat, living in the North West all I hear now when Newcastle is mentioned is how we are no longer contenders. Add to this the ambitions of other clubs in building bigger stadiums, and it will not take long for the gap between us and the top becomes impossible to breach. We have had an advantage of huge crowds due to the foresight of others, and the chance to become a huge club has disappeared because the wrong man bought the club.

Had he significantly invested in good quality players and continued with the development of the stadium then we could have been a real force. As it stands unless some oil rich prince comes along we will be forever an alsoran. That’s not for me, I’ll continue to look at their progress but from a distance until the ownership changes.

I maintain that Ashley is only staying until he recoups and/or profits from his investment, then he’ll be away (Hurray). He has made a profit in every transfer window since Kinnear. Just like his shops he wants the club to be in a prominent location, which in this case is obviously the Premiership. However, just like his shops are full of cheap crap, he wants to put the minimum amount into the club but wants the maximum return possible back. Nolan will go for 5 million, Enrique will go for 10 million, we’ll get the lad in from Swansea for 1 million plus a few fee transfers and loan signings. To appease the fans due to no big signings coming in, the club will use the excuse that they weren’t going to be held to ransom and pay over the odds, because other clubs knew we still had the 35 million from the Carroll sale. The club will then issue an ambiguous statement saying that the income from the transfers will be “re-invested back into the club”. But hey, what do I know? I’m not really qualified to comment having never been a failed casino director that’s been given a football club to ‘direct’!

In answer to the headline Yes.They always will. Llambas was lambasted in court(see what I did there?)about lying and misleading fans etc.Pardew consistantly talks bo330cks and contradicts himself.Itis up to individual choice to except it and put up with it or not, but surely no one can think that they didn’t try and mislead people.

I think you should leave Pardew out of the poll and just leave Ashely and Llambias.

It’s unfair to include Pardew as he clearly hasn’t got much of a say in this.

Up until now I am pleased with our transfer business. We have signed 3 or 4 (if you include the young frenchie Abeid) quality players.

Though I have to admit I am a bit worried about the clubs suspicious unwillingness to not spend the money.

I couldn’t care less if we didn’t spend all the money as long as we spend ‘some of it’ to keep improving the squad. We are thin now and need more players, especially if the likes of Barton and Jose etc are to leave.

Many fans as usual are overreacting to all of this I say just wait and see what happens.

“I have never liked the present owner/directors of what I consider my football club, and I will never support the team while they are in control”

bill, I’ve been supporting the club since about 1974 when I was a bairn, but I can’t remember ANY owner I’ve a fan of since that time. For me though, Fat Freddy’s still out in front when it comes to infamy.

I maintain that Ashley is only staying until he recoups and/or profits from his investment, then he’ll be away (Hurray). He has made a profit in every transfer window since Kinnear. Just like his shops he wants the club to be in a prominent location, which in this case is obviously the Premiership. However, just like his shops are full of cheap crap, he wants to put the minimum amount into the club but wants the maximum return possible back. Nolan will go for 5 million, Enrique will go for 10 million, we’ll get the lad in from Swansea for 1 million plus a few fee transfers and loan signings. To appease the fans due to no big signings coming in, the club will use the excuse that they weren’t going to be held to ransom and pay over the odds, because other clubs knew we still had the 35 million from the Carroll sale. The club will then issue an ambiguous statement saying that the income from the transfers will be “re-invested back into the club”. But hey, what do I know? I’m not really qualified to comment having never been a failed casino director that’s been given a football club to ‘direct’!

Being a non-Geordie but having a bit of a soft spot for your long suffering fans I think you guys have got to take a step back and see what happens now.

You have signed well thought of young players and have then on long contracts. So many clubs are spending silly money that it is quite refreshing for a club like Newcastle who have often let their hearts rule their heads in the market putting their sensible hat on.

Nolan is undoubtedly a good player, but he won’t be worth the wages he was wanting when he is 33.

I don’t see how it matters if the 35m goes out in terms of wages or fees.

You signed Ba. He cost West Ham 7m not long ago. You reportedly had to pay various parties between 2m-4m to get him. There is no point pretending he was free as in nothing when he wasn’t. Is he a good signing for 2m-4m? You bet!

You’ve swapped Cabaye for Nolan minus about 500k, you have a much younger guy who is probably on 60% of what Nolan was on and happy for it.

I think you guys have done really well so far. You’ve rejuvenated the team, got some good and quick ball players in and even if you include the wages, still have cash to spare.

You probably need one more forward player and then to replace your left back if he goes but I think you can look forward to the season. Better than signing has beens and also rans.

You’ve always liked entertainers and that is what you have in Marveaux, Ben Arfa, Cabaye, Ba, Mehdi added to the likes of Barton, Tiote, Gosling, etc.

If you can get one more forward you are laughing, and who cares what they cost? There’s nothing wrong with having a bit left over for later in the season. And Andy Carroll, he’s done great, but he’s already had injury problems in his career as well.

From reading the article here and all those quotes, I have to conclude that some fans misled themselves.

Nowhere does anybody from the club say we had £35m in transfer fees, or even that all of the £35m would be spent at all, let alone in this one window.

They said it was going back into the club, and I believe it will, whether that’s in wages or improving the team training facilities.

Some people seem to pick and choose what they take literally. Some people scrutinise, over analyse and take every individual word extremely literally when it suits them, then when statements like the ones above are made, all of the literal meaning is forgotten about, and it’s taken to mean whatever people want them to.

Nobody said £35m in transfer funds, nobody said it would be spent on anything, just that it would stay within the club. If certain people wanted to take that to mean something else, then those people can’t complain of being misled, they’ve simply read between the lines and got it wrong.

I’m happy with the players we’ve brought in, and I see it as a real bonus we’ve done it so cheaply! It seems like some people would be happier if we bought the same players, but spent £10m on each of them, just so that the club would be spending on transfer fees!

As Michael says @1, when you look at the ins and outs so far, there is absolutely no doubt that we have strengthened the squad, I’m at a loss to understand how anyone could think otherwise! I for one am happy that its been done so cheaply! After all, it’s true that price in no way dictates the quality of a player. And this way we still have money to spend in later windows if we need to bring anyone new in.

You only have to compare the recent transfer activity at Newcastle and Sunderland to see that the odious vile Llambias and Alan Partridge are feeding us all bullshit.
Sunderland and Newcastle have both bought in around 40 million each this year in transfer fees and one club is getting on with recruiting new players whilst the other is wittering on about Water Bores and agents fees.

Personally, I think we have been misled. What Derek Llambias should have done is explain to the fans (and it seems, Alan Pardew) is how the money would be spent exactly as he no doubt calculated it with Mike Ashley. I can understand that there are other considerable costs involved in purchasing players and their contracts etc. but why the Dickens not keep us more in the loop and prevent this frustration that we now have. That’s what friends, and good bosses, do. On this score, they remain pretty clueless and continue to show their disdain to the fans of the club.

I think they didn’t lie to us. But deceive us…certainly. Think back to what you though after the AC transfer and all the talk that circulated in the months following. The general consensus of most fans and media members is not what is happening currently. Our transfer activity is still very much to be decided. However, even if some bigger $ is spent I’ll still feel deceived. It seems like they allowed us to believe one thing while planning to do another. No they did not lie, yes they did deceive; in my opinion. I think they are being very intelligent in the transfer market and I’m very excited about that. But why stop at being smart when you have this extra-ordinary opportunity to add a little bit of muscle to that.

AC being sold for £35 Mill was great business for us but only if we bought a quality striker and strengthened all over the park. I said at the time that this transfer window will be Ashleys opportunity to show his intent especially when stating ALL the AC money would be spent on players. Unfortunately, it looks like they are again backtracking. I like the look of the new lads but it looks like we will be left to scramble for a couple of players just before the window closes. What about all the money that will be generated via gate receipts, tv revenue and sponsorship etc. If Ashley lies again with his false promises then the only way to hurt him is financially. I firmly believe with a further 3 quality signings including a top drawer centre forward and we could be in for a very good season

Ppl keep sayin av faith,, judge then Sep 1st, but then it will b 2 late, if they don’t invest now,& I’m not sayin we need 2 blow £m,s on average players, it will b the fans that get kicked in the nuts again by this fat c**t

“We have had an advantage of huge crowds due to the foresight of others, and the chance to become a huge club has disappeared because the wrong man bought the club. Had he significantly invested in good quality players and continued with the development of the stadium then we could have been a real force”

Absolutely spot on Bill !

Managing a club with a potential 50k home attendance and all the possible marketing opportunities that could bring should be a dream come true for most owners/chairmen.

Unfortunately Fatman chose to go down the debt recovery route when he bought the club and ever since then his MO has been all about limiting spending.

Yet if he understood what had gone before him and seen Shepherd spunking millions of pounds on wages of players who didnt want to be here he would have realised that this isnt a difficult business to run successfully.

If he just stepped back from the “I want my money back before anything else happens at this club” stance he might realise that a successful team can develop year on year with quality signings that dont break the bank ! Because if you’ve got such a great team/squad you only need to bring in one or two players every season not the half dozen we need right now !

I take your point mate, and I agree with some of what you said, but the thing is, whether its Ashley, Llambias or Pardew, none of them are our friends, and they’re not our bosses, good or bad. I know a lot of people love the football club, but that doesn’t mean that we will ever be told the full story, with total disclosure of any aspect, of it, and certainly not the financial side of it.

And Ocorius, also some good points from yourself, but as you say yourself, “the general consensus of most fans and media members”. The problem with that is that none of these people are in the know. They are people like ourselves, who would like it to be one thing, but while we don’t know, all we do is speculate, and to be honest, when all someone does is assume, then really they can’t complain if it turns out they’re not right. Really, its very much like all the transfer rumours that go around in the press: If it’s not official, then don’t take it as anything other than a rumour.

“I said at the time that this transfer window will be Ashleys opportunity to show his intent especially when stating ALL the AC money would be spent on players”

Sorry Steve but that’s not true. Neither Mike Ashley nor anyone else from the club said that all of the AC transfer money would be spent on players. That was an assumption made by fans and the press. The actual quotes are in the article, and none of them say that.

This is what I meant in my 1st post of this thread, people making assumptions around the quotes, and taking that as being the quote. It’s a dangerous business, and only ever leads to people deing frustrated, disgruntled and disappointed, but essentially, its disappointment of their own making

Well there’s no question in my mind, yes of course they are.
How dumb is that ?
Do they think we are all morons or something ?
Look they had to come up with some excuse following Carrolls sale not wanting another bedsheet scenario.
Sure the wording is vague, “every penny of the money will stay in the club”?
Errmm ! does’nt Ashley own the club ? is it not therefore his money and how does he segregate the £35m.
Look the guy is entitled to do as he pleases with his money and had he come out and said, I’ve changed my mind
then O’k, we might be a bit pissed, but hey,at least, up front.
But to dig themselves into a deeper hole by letting those two geniuses Llambias and Pardew make shit up and could’nt even get on the same page is an “in your face” situation.
Typical of how they have operated from day one.
If anyone is going to tell me that Ashley does not intend to take what he has spent on the club back out of the club, quid by quid, i will kiss your ass in Times Square.
And what better oportunity now ?
These people have no respect for the fans, they are the same as Freddy and the Halls, grab what you can and get out.
Well that cant come soon enough for me.

Will all due respect Scott, this is one of the many Pardew quotes “The one thing I said to Mike yesterday was, ‘Look, if this boy is going to go, this money has to be reinvested in the team, all of it’, and he has assured me of that.”

“For the Newcastle fan, that is the most important message I can give today, that all that money will be used”
I, and I am not alone would expect the above statements to mean ALL of the AC money being spent on transfers (not training facilities, agent fees or wages etc). These should come from the various income streams. I agree and understand that Ashley had to reduce the debt and the wage bill and that we have to cut our cloth to suit, however, when teams such as Wigan, Bolton, Stoke and the mackems are looking to spend more than us then we are in trouble

am not really sure the two are to mislead the fans. but they must be mindful that any decision regarding this saga should be in the interest of the fans. because most of the times the fans also play an important role in the upliftment of the club….

Simply does not just mean transfer funds, as much as we all wish it did. Maybe they did say it whilst hoping that fans would interpret it to mean transfer funds, but unfortunately that wasn’t what was said, so I think we really have to conclude that they always meant it to include these other things as well.

And as we all know, the rapidly growing blight that is the football agent, means that every signing, regardless of the transfer fee, still costs millions paid to these blood sucking parasites for doing nowt more than haggling and having a pen on hand to give to their players.

Bas agent reportedly got anywhere between 2 and 4 million for the deal, and I reckon the player would’ve got his bit as well, so there really is no such thing as a free transfer any more.

Look at cabaye too, he just won a double and is now a full French international. I bet that put his agent in a pretty strong bargaining position! He probably got as much as bas agent too!

Make no mistake loyal followers, “free” transfers still cost millions, just not to the player’s club!

And who knows, if money is being spent on facilities too, maybe well be able to get more out of our players, or bring the kids on to a better standard? Maybe we might be able to avoid the obligatory annual injury crisis?

Nah, I didn’t think so either…

PS sorry about the split message. Doing this on my phone and had a wobble and posted mid type… :-S

Scott – they made a statement not long ago that they won’t be held to ransom by agents and players and won’t pay over the odds. Now they come out with the contradictory statement that ‘free’ transfers are actually very expensive and you have to pay agents a lot of money.

So which is it? Whichever suits their agenda at the time, I would suggest.

Agents fees and players signing on fees are always expensive in the modern game. They are frequently well into the millions.

However when the club says that they won’t pay over the odds or be held to ransom, that’s probably right, its just that in the current climate, 2-4 million in agents fees isn’t over the odds in lots of cases. As expensive as it is, its commonplace.

Also, where there is no transfer fee involved, this of course gives the club more room for manoeuvre with agents and players fees, as well as wages.

On a different subject.
Who’s the main man now ?
We know both Pardew and Llambias have little or no input.
So is Carr “the man”
Or could there be someone on the board ?
Ashley has to have someone to inform him, someone who can put a side to-gether, i mean we know he’s a control freak, but he obviously has to rely on someone.
Yeah probably Carr, the new Rasputin so to speak, or the likeable Dennis Wise, hmmmm…

Oh FFS. But surely SOME of a whopping £35mil would be allocated for transfer fees. 6 of the last 8 players signed by nufc were on free transfers, no signs of that changing so far.

I keep reading about how we don’t want to go down the ‘michael owen route’ again. No one wants that.. but this is a one-off opportunity to reinvest a massive cash win fall on key, quality players. Other clubs re-invest incoming transfer fees on new players – why the fook aren’t we? We are spending less than your average championship club, in fact we’re turning a profit on the transfer windows these days.

Scott – regardless of the leverage it affords, if they’re not prepared to pay it, then they won’t.

Even so, let’s say they’ve spent a whopping £4m on each player. That leaves £22m burning a hole in Ashley’s pocket. Everything I’ve heard lately suggests we shouldn’t expect that to be spent anytime soon. Rather than be pre-emptive and avoid problems, we’ll react in January if we’re in the muck stuff.

Enter the next inexplicable bit of spin…

Frankly, the idea of paying wages over a player’s (Tiote) contract with money upfront out of the £35m is preposterous and yet some supporters seem to be advocating it. Blithely ignoring the fact that revenue is still being generated so there will be a profit by one means or another.

That will get a hefty taxing so expect Ashley to re-invest or pay off loans to avoid it. I know where my money would be.

I disagree that a football club is just a business. It isn’t and for any owner who sees it this way is not only mistaken but missing out on maximising the potential of the club and its success. Most clubs, NUFC in particular, are akin to a family – at least their origins are when all of the players were local lads known to the families who supported them on the pitch. It is important to have a good dialogue and relationship with the fans who provide a massive amount of revenue and whose hearts are entwined with the fortunes of the club. Good relationships develop positive atmospheres which effect everyone associated with the club, not least the actual players. Too much under the present ownership has been highly toxic to the club which resulted two years ago in our relegation. The ONLY thing that brought it back up was the relationship, determination and positive spirit engendered by Chris Hughton and a core handful of players who put the fans and the club as their number one priority. It brought us success, not because of Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias’s business acumen but despite it. They both would do very well to note it.

Excellent comment paul in Hollywood totally agree. Surely when people are talking about the AC money being spent on wages then we must factor in the players that have been sold or released i.e Nolan, Kuqi, Campbell, Carroll? Also this highlights the fact we wouldn’t have had any money to spend if AC stayed at the club. I agree it doesn’t matter what the club spends so long as the players we have are good enough however we are still taking a massive gamble by getting rid of the likes of Nolan, Barton etc… who helped to provide the team spirit that allowed us to overachieve last season and almost finish top 10. There are questions as to how will the new lads perform first season in prem because as we know with Colo and Enrique there can be a settling in period sometimes with foreign players, we also don’t know if Ben Arfa will be the same player after his injury. There were also times last season where we needed the steel to fight on the pitch e.g Sunderland, Arsenal etc… Do the new lads have the same determination that if the team is behind they will fight to get the result. I just feel getting rid of some of the more experienced players is an unecessary gamble but it is one I hope pays off because I love Newcastle United it is part of my heritage my Grandad supported them, My Dad supports them and I support them. I may not like the owner or his cronies but I could never turn my back on my team and what the Black and White truly stands for HWTL !!!

Will the supporter with the brain please step forward??? Pardew couldn’t press ahead with forming sweet FA without permission from that fat lying git and his bunch of cockney cronies; wake up lads… What is happening now is typical management bullshit, let us have a vote on who is Ashleys favourite brown nose??? There are so many to pick from; at the moment mine is Pardew, who’s yours??? It’s hard to say but how about bringing back Fat Freddy, please!!!

Bring back Fat Freddy…that’s the most idiotic thing that’s ever been written. That Fat Fcuker is the one of the main reasons why we have/had so much debt.

Fat Freddy took our club to the brink of ruin whilst lining his own pockets & here we are today buying season tickets & merchandise to pay his debts off. The Fat C@nt took millions of our money out of the club…I know Ashley ain’t perfect & these transfer windows are frustrating but he’s only trying to recoup money he lent to the club interest free. Fat Freddie is a complete b@stard

I’m not an Ashley hater; I don’t really care either way. Anyone who thinks we weren’t led up the garden path by the previous owners is the real fool here. John Hall…invested 6 million of other people’s money and walked away with 74 million a few years later. FFS made a marquee signing for 17 million they will only come for money [look back to Owen he didn’t want to be here] he spent all the sponsorship money just to sell season tickets [would you rather they spent the 35 million on another mercenary] and lumbered the club with huge debts. Realise this…Newcastle are not the most attractive club in European football, players of high quality will NOT crawl on their hands & knees to kiss the club badge…they don’t need to there’s plenty other takers. Even at the height of the Keegan days we were still only able to attract players who were nearing the end of their careers [exception Shearer …local lad, but even he ensured he was always the highest paid in the club!] Our only expectation as a paying customer is that we get to watch a football match, as fans we have no other input to the club. Ashley tried to sell the club at around the same time as Man City were bought by the rich oil billionaires, why didn’t they buy us instead/…ever thought it might be the bedsheet brigade scared them off? Who would want to buy a business where your customers think they can openly abuse you just because you don’t run your business their way it’s? ……..bollox man! Al of you whiners just shut up and watch the games, or if you don’t like it, then don’t go…it’s your choice!

Taking Tiote’s contract extension into account is not the same as investing in the team. They would always have to pay wages to Tiote or his replacement over the next 5 years. That applies to all players. Everyone’s contract will either be extended, or replaced by someone else, so by that logic, £35m could be spent on salaries and nothing on transfers.

well we are now into the 5th year of this so called plan,are we any further forward?,i know let’s judge them at the end of the season lol.it’s been brilliant so far,two relegation battles,a subsequent relegation,a year in the championship,and another in the prem keeping our heads above water.well you only have to look at what has occurred to see that the policy hasn’t worked so far,but hey,maybe i’m missing something.

Trojan you need to wake up there is a new 5 year plan that started last week it is a surefire winner,everyone is on board and we will be competing against the best in europe before you know it.

Never been so excited,the squad is being bolstered with so many foreigners NUFC have announced that the Club have decided to up sticks and move to France to assure we can compete in Europe on a weekly basis.

No new club name has been announced but rumours on twatter seem to think it’s Le Sport’D Etienne.

You need to get real Roy…its not your club or ours its Ashley’s as it it was Shepherds before that and Hall before that. It’s no more your club than John Lewis’s is your shop you just buy stuff there and have no say in how its run. I’m not wearing Ashley tinted specs I’m just a realist!

Champagneblade’s post at 26 needs reading and re-reading by everyone. It points out what a load of angry, daft, deluded tits we can all be at times.

We know from the outcome of the KK court case that Ashley and Lamearse are lying, conniving, amoral spivs. Which puts them streets ahead of the likes of most owners, most notably Fat Fred. Ashley is genuinely trying to ensure the club still exists in the future, while Fred and others went right to the brink of killing it entirely.

I do think it’s reasonable to include agents’ fees in the ‘spend’ figure against the Carroll money. I also liked the massive dig at agents in the club statement. But I do not agree with including wages, which must be balanced against ongoing income, not one-off player trading income. And yes, they should stop making excuses; they don’t need them. So far, they’re doing very well with our money, thank you.

As for those comparing our spending with Scumberland – are you totally daft?? They’re spending far more money than they have on poorer players, hoping for some European miracle to keep them from the bankruptcy court. Fat Fred economics.

Meanwhile we’re spending very wisely, getting better players for less money. Yes, our owners are full of shit. Welcome to football. But count your blessings too and at least try to recognise good business practice when you see it.

Whumpie 80 you’ve hit the nail right on the head! except for one thing its not our money…I wish it was but it isn’t, Ashley has control of the club and the money and all the parading around the stadium draped in bedsheets isn’t going to change that. Do any of you really think he’s going to buy the club and then because a few knuckle draggers slag him off he’ll walk away? if anyone thinks that then the press really are right when they say toon fans are deluded! strewth!

“Our only expectation as a paying customer is that we get to watch a football match, as fans we have no other input to the club. Ashley tried to sell the club at around the same time as Man City were bought by the rich oil billionaires, why didn’t they buy us instead/…ever thought it might be the bedsheet brigade scared them off? Who would want to buy a business where your customers think they can openly abuse you just because you don’t run your business their way it’s? ……..bollox man! Al of you whiners just shut up and watch the games, or if you don’t like it, then don’t go…it’s your choice!”

So much wrong with this its a question of where to start, but first of all Citeh were taken over in August 2008 (so its fair to assume that negotiations had taken place well before that) while Fatman was still flavour of the month and downing pints in front of the TV viewers so the bedsheet brigade werent even around. It was later on in September after KK walked that Fatman put the club up for sale because of the “KK demo’s”

“”Our only expectation as a paying customer is that we get to watch a football match, as fans we have no other input to the club”

So the pies, shirts, programmes, booze, web sites we pay for plus our season tickets give us no right to criticise whatsoever ? Do me and the rest of this blog a favour Joe

Criticise all you like it ain’t going to make any difference. The guy has millions tied up in the club do you really think he cares what you say, the only way he’ll walk away is if he gets his full investment back and interest, he might be a lot of things but he isn’t stupid.
pies, shirts, programmes, booze, are no different to stuff you buy a tescos but does that give you the power to change how its run? You’re paying for a commodity…entertainment, you have the right to withdraw your patronage endof………

JoeSoap thats the thing though if everyone boycotted the club and was united in that then it would force the Fatman into making a change just like any other business if that’s what your comparing the club to. If you are losing customers it forces you to make changes so to say the fans have no power is incorrect. Also customers of company’s do make complaints and changes are made to company policies as a result. I don’t know of any other company that has such a lack of respect for it’s ‘customers’ as you call them.

We’ve seen fan power before FFS tried to appease the fans time & time again and where did that get us?….mercenary players and managers seeing the club as a golden goose to come an fleece [Kleivert & Owen BSA Souness etc etc] [Big Sam built a villa in Portugal on the strength of it] even Ashley tried it with Keegan & then Shearer the former cost the club 7 million. He’s learned not to listen to the fans it’s been made very plain that they hate his guts. But if he did…which fans does he listen to, me you or the 50 thousand others with differing opinions? I could ask for a poll to name which player we should sign next and get 50thousand names. The club have signed 3 players since the end of last season not counting the young’un all three sound like an improvement to me, but lets wait and see. Carroll was sold for 35 million, if it had been the other way around would we all have been happy to pay 35 mil to liverpool for him? Nolan wanted 5 years…so he could sit on his arse for the last 2 taking 60 a week like Smith has and loads of other before. What do we really want to see happen next? So Ashley sells up and goes, sells to a rich american or arab billionaire and 12 months down the line they’ve not satisfied the bedsheet boys…. what happens then do we start screaming for them to get out of our club? Jeez some of you really need to grow up!

“Fans don’t want Hollywood signings”….but they do though, otherwise why aren’t the majority happy that we’ve signed 3 good players who would have normally cost millions but because the club were smart enough to sign them on a free and didn’t splurge 35 million a’la Carroll they think they’re being cheated? I agree regards the managers tho’ how FFS could possibly think anyone would want Souness or BSA is beyond me…and yes Ashley took Keegan back & then Shearer thinking it would please the fans, but at least he learned from these mistakes.

Joe No they don’t they want to see a 1st team investment from the £40m (Nolan and Carroll) plus £20M a season that was promised…..nobody on here has asked for massive signings at all.
If so please prove it.

Rodzilla loved the comment it made me lol. JoeSoap it is not so much the money spent on the signings rather that they are trying to tell the fans that they have spent a huge chunk of the AC money because of these free signings when we know that is a load of bull. As for fan power under Keegan the first time round he embraced the fans and look at where that got us almost winning the league. Thing is I never had a problem with Mike Ashley before Derek Llambias came into the club as I thought Chris Mort was a good chairman with excellent PR skills so that is probably a big part of the problem.

But Jason that sounds like all you’re bothered about is spending the money to prove that he’s not a cheating cockney bastard. Surely if they can get signings through the door who are good quality for small fees that’s got to be good isn’t it? If he is a greedy lying sod then all the more reason to do this, because if he just wanted to take the money and run we wouldn’t have any new players coming to the club at all, then your worst nightmares would come true? All this about not being lied to etc etc…..as somebody said earlier we’ve all learned that life isn’t fair, but most of us managed to get over it!

Joe He has already been proven in a Court of Law to be a cheating,lying bastard that is now fully understood.

We have been told recently that the fees for these free players are not small they are massive! and that we won’t be held to ransom by agents anymore (but we are now supposed to be paying tons of money to to get these players free with massive agent fees) the whole thing does not add up….ie LIES.

Now earlier in the thread I asked you to prove that someone,anyone on here has asked for massive Trophy signings?

As I said earlier in the thread, I’m not an Ashley hater, but nor am I an Ashley apologist either….just a realist. I understand that he’s been caught out lying..he’s not the first and no doubt he won’t be the last. The fact is he is here, he does own the club he will or will not buy players that satisfies the fans, but either way it is what it is. I have a season ticket I’ve paid good money for it and intend to enjoy [hopefully] watching some good football next season. I won’t spend the whole match marching draped in bedsheets or chanting ‘get oot of our club’ making a complete fool of myself so SKY and the rest of the country can have a good old smirk at the ‘Jordeees’…but if that’s what floats your boat then go for it pal!

newcastle fans have took a lot of flak from fans of other clubs,and from fellow newcastle fans,for wanting to protest against fat ashley.names like the “bedsheet brigade”are freely bandied around,”the anti ashley mob”etc.i never seen any similar condemnation against liverpool fans for protesting against hicks and gillett,or the manchester united fans who set fire to police riot vans,in protest at the glazer family.man u fans still protest,by wearing the old newton heath colours,and they’ve won things in that time frame.
the liverpool fans did prevail in their attempts,at forcing out their unpopular owners.it does seem that the only language mike ashley understands in cold hard currency,so like a few posters have mentioned,if you want to effect change,then stay away from the matches.
i know it wont be popular with some people,who’ll say i support the club,it’s what i do at the weekend etc,but until ashley’s tap is stopped,he will never change,as long as he’s got 52,000 paying customers in his shop at the weekend.if the crowds for home games dropped dramatically for a few weeks,he might start to change his way of thinking.i have to disagree with one poster,who has said we have no power as fans,which begs the question,what is a football club without it’s fans?.
as fans we do have the power to effect change,but if we dont put up,then we have to shut up.

To me that is someone asking for a number 9 to replace one that was sold…In no way does Geoff state he wants a Trophy signing.
Most of us want a decent number 9 to replace the one that was sold that does not mean we want a Trophy signing.

You think Carroll was better than Demba Ba?….I’m not making Ba out to be a trophy signing but in the real world without idiots like Dalglish spending stupid money players like Carroll & Ba would go for around the same price so I would argue he’s been replaced? Time will tell. If the three players had cost say 12 million each would we all have been happy?

You think Carroll was better than Demba Ba?….I’m not making Ba out to be a trophy signing but in the real world without idiots like Dalglish spending stupid money players like Carroll & Ba would go for around the same price so I would argue he’s been replaced? Time will tell. If the three players had cost say 12 million each would we all have been happy?

JoeSoap that is a fair comment but Carroll has the potential to become even better do you not agree? I am not saying that I am not happy with the signings we have made so far but surely you must concede there are other deficiencies in the squad that need addressing such as we need a first choice or better cover at right back as both Raylor and Perch are not good enough. We need decent cover for Cheick Tiote as he is bound to get suspended, injured etc… and we do not currently have decent cover for DM in the squad in my opinion Smith doesn’t cut it. Also if Enrique goes we may need another LB even 2 one for cover unless that is going to be Ferguson’s position from now on. We may even need another goalscorer as a foil for Ba considering we have sold our two top goal scorers. My point is that we know we have money to address these issues but statements are coming out stating we need one or two players and we are finished in the transfer market. I am not talking about trophy signings but we do need quality players in these positions if we are going to make progress. I am not having a go at you JoeSoap by the way and I respect your opinion.

I agree with everything you say above LuaLua. Every player has a price though, none of them love the club but they all love money. Some fans seem to think that all Ashley needs to do is go after any player and they’ll come crawling on hands & knees to play for the toon…this isn’t true. I may be a fool but I genuinely believe they want Enrique to stay, I also think that Carroll did get too big for his boots and the offer of 35 million was to much to turn down for a bloke who was trying to hold them over a barrel for a huge pay rise. The club like it or not are not one of the big 4 and cannot compete either financially or geographically for the very top players and as such are wheeling & dealing to get who they can. I don’t think Ashley or any of his cohorts give a shit about the feelings of the fans but he does want to protect his investments and if he is anything he is a shrewd business man [you don’t make nearly 2 billion by being anybody’s mug] I guess all I’m trying to say is that it’s probably not quite as simple as it seems to run a football club[something Ashley has found out in the last few years] and that some fans are too quick to just condemn everything that happens is as a result of Ashley being a twat!….He wants his business to succeed every bit as much as we want the club to gain success!

“Hey worky, refreshing to see your stance has changed! The spin coming out of the club is beyond a joke.”

First of all, great to see you back on here Bowburn!

My stance hasn’t changed as such, it just that the things I’ve criticised ‘em for have often been different from the things other people do, and you know how much I coudln’t stand the previous Shepherd and Hall jnr regime as well. Sometimes though, our gripes they may coincide. Having written all that, I did lose my way with them completely when they sacked Hughton for a number of reasons.